Geology of the Van Buren and Lavaca Quadrangles, Arkansas and Oklahoma GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 657-A Prepared in cooperation with the Arkansas Geological Commission Geology of the Van Buren and Lavaca Quadrangles, Arkansas and Oklahoma By BOYD R. HALEY and THOMAS A. HENDRICKS GEOLOGY OF THE ARKANSAS VALLEY COAL FIELD PART 2 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 657-A Prepared in cooperation with the Arkansas Geological Commission UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1971 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ROGERS C. B. MORTON, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY William T. Pecora, Director Library of Congress catalog-card No. 77-610923 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 CONTENTS Page Stratigraphy Continued Abstract_ ________________________________________ Al Pennsylvanian System Continued Introduction____________________________________ 1 Bloyd Formation ____________ ________ 9 Stratigraphy.______________________________________ 3 Atoka Series______________________________ A14 Ordovician System..____________________________ 3 Des MoinesSeries, Krebs Group_____________ 24 Everton Formation, St. Peter Sandstone, and Hartshorne Sandstone.-____________---- 24 Joachim Dolomite undivided _______________ 3 McAlester Formation________________ 24 Plattin Limestone_________________________ 3 Savanna Formation ____________________ 24 Fern vale Limestone. ________________________ 6 Quaternary System___________________________ 25 Cason Shale______________________________ 6 Terrace deposits ____________________________ 25 Silurian System, St. Clair Limestone ______________ 6 Alluvium _________________________________ 25 Devonian System, Penters Chert __________________ 6 Structure __________________-_________-_-------_-__ 25 Devonian and Mississippian Systems, Chattanooga Folds________________________________ 25 Shale -_-_-__----- ------___---__---_ --- 8 Faults_______________________________ . 26 Mississippian System.___________________________ 8 Economic geology_________________________________ 27 Boone Formation ___________________________ Coal..._____.__-_____________.... 27 Moorefield Formation _______________________ Coal beds in the Atoka Formation ___________ 27 Fayetteville Shale___________________________ Coal beds in the McAlester Formation______. 27 Pitkin Limestone ___________________________ Coal beds in the Savanna Formation_________. 28 Pennsylvanian System. __________________________ Oil and gas.____________________________________ 28 Morrow Series._____________________________ Building stone._________________________________ 30 Hale Formation_______________________ Road metal ____________________________________ 30 Cane Hill Member. _________________ Gravel, sand, and clay__________________________. 30 Prairie Grove Member_____________ References cited ____________________________________ 32 ILLUSTRATIONS [Plates are in pocket] PLATE 1. Geologic map of Van Buren and Lavaca quadrangles, Arkansas and Oklahoma. 2. Stratigraphic sections. 3. Lithologic sections of post-Atoka rocks in Lavaca quadrangle. 4. Electrical log correlation of the Atoka Formation. 5. Structure-contour and coal-bed map. 6. Structural sections. 7. Graphs showing thickness, maximum porosity, and gas content of the sandstone part of selected zones in the Atoka Formation. Page FIGURE 1. Index map of report area_________________________________________________________________________ A2 2. Chart showing stratigraphic nomenclature of rocks_______________________________-----------__----- 4 3. Section showing correlation of rocks between the Everton and Boone Formations____________-__--------_ 7 4-10. Map showing thickness of: 4. The Chattanooga Shale and the Boone Formation, Moorefield Formation, and Fayetteville Shale____ 10 5. The Pitkin Limestone, combined Fayetteville Shale, Moorefield Formation, and Boone Formation, post-Chattanooga Mississippian rocks, and the Chattanooga Shale and Mississippian rocks______ 12 6. Morrow rocks___________________________________________________________________________ 14 7. The Cane Hill and Prairie Grove Members of the Hale Formation and the Hale and Bloyd Formations. 16 8. The lower, middle, and upper parts of the Atoka Formation, and its total thickness._________ __ 18 9. The sandy parts of zones 28, 58, 67, and 93 in the Atoka Formation________________--------_ 20 10. The sandy parts of zones 98, 99, 100, and 101 in the Atoka Formation._________-_______--------_ 22 11. Map showing location of wells drilled in the report area______________________-___-____-______-_-----_ 29 12. Maps showing possible maximum-porosity trends in the sandstone part of zone 98____________---_---.--- 31 m IV CONTENTS TABLES Page TABLE 1. Division of the Atoka Formation in Van Buren and Lavaca quadrangles, Arkansas and Oklahoma._________ A15 2. Estimated original reserves of coal in the Arkansas part of Van Buren and Lavaca quadrangles, Arkansas and Oklahoma. _______________________________________________________________ 27 3. Descriptions of selected wells drilled in Van Buren and Lavaca quadrangles, Arkansas and Oklahoma, as of September 30, 1966___________________________________________________ 33 GEOLOGY OF THE ARKANSAS VALLEY COAL FIELD PART 2 GEOLOGY OF THE VAN BUREN AND LAVACA QUADRANGLES, ARKANSAS AND OKLAHOMA By BOYD R. HALEY and THOMAS A. HENDRICKS ABSTRACT coal beds, and to present estimates of coal resources Van Buren and Lavaca quadrangles cover an area of about where data permit; (4) to provide geologic data and the 488 square miles in east-central Oklahoma and west-central authors' interpretations of these data relevant to the Arkansas. Rocks of Middle Pennsylvanian age and unconsoli- accumulation of natural gas; and (5) to provide infor­ dated alluvial deposits of Quaternary age are exposed at the mation about the availability of building stone, gravel, surface, and rocks of Ordovician to Middle Pennsylvanian age have been penetrated by wells drilled in the area. sand, and clay. The rocks have been folded into east-trending broad, gentle This report together with added lithologic descrip­ folds whose limbs have been broken by north- or south-dipping tions of rocks penetrated by selected wells and shallow normal faults. Displacement across the faults is generally less holes is also published, under separate cover, as Arkansas than 1,500 feet but may be as much as 2,500 feet across the fault Geological Commission Information Circular 20-1. that separates the Arkansas Valley section from the Ozark Plateaus province. Folding and faulting started on a major scale The Van Buren quadrangle (lat 35°15' and 35°30' N., during the deposition of the Atoka Formation and continued long 94°15' and 94°30' W.) has an area of about 244 until after deposition of the youngest Pennsylvanian beds. The square miles, of which about 60 square miles is in Le structural relief in the report area, as measured on the base of Flore and Sequoyah Counties, Okla., and about 184 the Hartshorne Sandstone, may be as much as 4,450 feet. square miles is in Sebastian and Crawford Counties, The Atoka, McAlester, and Savanna Formations contain coal beds. The Lower Hartshorne coal bed, near the base of the Ark. The Lavaca quadrangle (lat 35°15' and 35°30' N., McAlester Formation, and the Charleston coal bed, near the base long 94°00' and 94°15' W.) adjoins the Van Buren quad­ of the Savanna Formation, have been the most economically rangle on the east. It has an area of about 244 square important. miles in Sebastian, Franklin, and Crawford Counties, Natural gas has been found in rocks of Silurian, Devonian, Ark. (fig. 1). Mississippian, and Pennsylvanian age. Most of the gas is in rocks of Pennsylvanian age, in the Atoka Formation. The gas Generalized geologic reports pertaining in part to the in Pennsylvanian rocks is lithologically entrapped, and structure Van Buren and Lavaca quadrangles have been made by appears to have had little influence on the location or extent of Winslow (1888), Smith (1914), Croneis (1930), and gas accumulation. Haley (1960) for the Arkansas part, and by Drake Building stone and road metal have been obtained from the Atoka, Hartshorne, McAlester, and Savanna Formations. Gravel (1897), Taff and Adams (1900), Taff (1905), Snider and sand are obtained from the alluvial deposits, and the shale (1914), Smith (1914), and Shannon and others (1926) in the McAlester Formation has been quarried for brick and tile. for the Oklahoma part. Detailed geologic reports pertaining in part to the two INTRODUCTION quadrangles have been made by Collier (1907) and This report is one of a series of geological reports Hendricks and Parks (1937,1950) for the Arkansas part, being prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in co­ and by Knechtel (1949) for the Oklahoma part. operation with the Arkansas Geological Commission. The stratigraphic boundaries of the post-Atoka rocks It has been prepared (1) to provide geologic and struc­ established by Hendricks and Parks (1950, p. 69) are ture maps of the quadrangles on a modern topographic used in this report. The stratigraphic nomenclature of base; (2) to relate the structure and stratigraphy of the these rocks as reported in Hendricks and Parks (1950) rocks exposed at the surface to that of the subsurface was modified by Merewether and Haley (1961), who rocks; (3) to show the extent and thickness of known adopted Miser's (1954) terminology of McAlester Al GEOLOGY OF THE ARKANSAS VALLEY COAL FIELD PART 2 93 ° MISSOURI 92